Cover Story: Sixty One Years Young IPL Pro Champ John Kolodziej On Health, Longevity & Living The Good Life
“You just need to decide if you want to be out there enjoying life or sitting in a doctor’s office.”
Images captured on Friday November 11th, the day before 2022 IPL APEX VI. The IPL’s year-end championship event in Phoenix, AZ. At APEX John placed 2nd in Pro Masters Athletic and 1st in Pro Masters Sports Model.
BEN YOSEF: Okay! Here we go! Congratulations on a great showing at APEX VI! I think it’s safe to say this was your career best package to date! Would you agree? And how are you feeling about what you delivered to the APEX stage last November?
JOHN KOLODZIEJ: Thank you. I would agree on this being my best package to date, but I feel there were some areas I could have done better in. I am very appreciative of how the organization posts our judging scores to help us identify our strong and weak points. It is all about improving oneself, so I hope my next competition I bring my best package.
BEN: I am always so intrigued, fascinated and inspired by athletes who continue to get better as they grow older. I am getting up there myself! [laughs] So I’m looking for some tips that I can apply to my own training! I think we are all looking for ideas. Got any tips for us?
JOHN: Set yourself some goals and when you achieve them, set higher goals. You worked hard your whole life, why not be healthy to enjoy everything you worked for.
Health
“You worked hard your whole life, why not be healthy to enjoy everything you worked for.”
BEN: So, it seems like you are living a good life! Which is part of the theme of this cover story interview. You have a beautiful family, grandkids, get to spend time with everyone and even enjoy the occasional whiskey in the hot tub! [laughs] How would you summarize where your life is right now?
JOHN: I am very blessed, at 61 years old, to be living my best life. My parents had to struggle to provide me and my two sisters with our basic needs. My father, however, did teach me a strong work ethic. It is that work ethic that now allows me to give my daughters and grandkids things that, as a child, I was only able to dream about. And yes, I do enjoy an occasional whiskey in the jacuzzi.
BEN: Love it! And at the same time you are setting a great example with regards to health, fitness and self-care! What was your level of fitness like growing up? Were you an athlete?
JOHN: I was on teams in grade school and into my sophomore year in high school. Basically, I was a “bench warmer”, but I played a lot of alley ball. So, I guess I was a street athlete.
BEN: Ha! Interesting. First, what is ally ball? And second, what was your physique like?
Longevity
“You just need to decide if you want to be out there enjoying life or sitting in a doctor’s office.”
JOHN: Where I grew up houses had garages in the back. The road back there was called an alley, which is where the trash cans were at for the garbage men to pick up. Some garages would have basketball rims on them and we would play basketball and tag football back there. It was safer than the streets.
Growing up there used to be an advertisement for some muscle building product that showed a muscular guy kicking sand in a skinny guys face. I was that skinny kid!
BEN: Ha! When did you start to see a shift in your physique? What would you say were some of the main things that were responsible for you turning that corner? And when did you become interested in competing on stage?
JOHN: I started seeing the difference in 2010 when I got certified as a personal trainer and was taking courses on nutrition. That education was the reason I was able turn that corner. Competition actually started with a few coworkers. We would get on the scale every month for bragging rights. They ended up quitting that and I started to loose motivation so I researched some local shows and did my first competition in 2014 at the age of 53.
BEN: Awesome! And what a way to get started, even if it’s in your fifties! When I worked in Corporate America decades ago there would be guys literally in their early 30s who looked really bad and were not taking care of themselves at all. These guys had basically given up. On that note, what do you think about the culture in this country with regards to health and fitness and the sedentary life of most people? And what would you say to guys out there who think it’s too late for them?
The Good Life
“It’s all about balance. You can have it all!”
JOHN: It’s never too late to change your lifestyle. You just need to decide if you want to be out there enjoying life or sitting in a doctor’s office. Nowadays there is a fast food restaurant on every corner and new video games coming out every day. Not a good combination if you are wanting to be healthy. But that is a choice you as an individual needs to make. I know my grandkids play video games. I’ve bought some for them. But I do that knowing that my daughters have them involved in sports, dance etc. It’s all about balance. You can have it all!
BEN: Well said! So at this moment we are just two weeks out from your next IPL contest, the 8th Annual Arizona Championship. Considering you delivered your best package to date last November, what can we expect you to bring next?
JOHN: Through the process of trying to improve oneself you have to make changes. Sometimes those changes work and sometimes they don’t. With that being said, I will be returning to the stage more knowledgeable and hopefully looking as good as I did in November. I still have 2 weeks to fine tune. I am looking forward to the challenge.
BEN: That’s awesome! Well, I look forward to seeing you bring it in a couple of weeks! Once again congratulations on this cover! Well deserved! And it’s an honor having you in the league! Any final thoughts for ATHLETIC Magazine?
JOHN: It’s my honor to be on the cover of ATHLETIC Magazine. I appreciate you and the IPL for all the opportunities you provide for your athletes. I look forward to the future. ATHLETIC
About the interviewer:
Ben Yosef
Ben is the Publisher of ATHLETIC Magazine and the President & Founder of the International Physique League.
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